Simple magic
by FoxNewsNetwork
Summary: In the alternate world created by Madoka's wish, Homura discovers the wonders and beauty in the world far removed from the dark and abysmal. She slowly opens her heart to the magic of quiet adventures with friends and the gentle love of a family.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: その、はじめましての日

Homura Akemi walked briskly down the empty courtyard of the Koyo High School with a worried look on her face. Glancing down at her wrist watch, her already speedy step broke into a run.

_It's only 7:45, how can I be late already? I even ran off without my lunch so I wouldn't be late! _ _What happened to the whole "nankurunaisa" thing?_

When uncle Akemi, Homura's kind uncle on her father's side, had flown her down to Okinawa and taken her into his own family, he had told her that in Okinawa, things ran slower, people relaxed to the ever present sea breeze, and everything always worked out - _nankurunaisa_. And for the entirety of Golden Week, Homura enjoyed this slow and tropical lifestyle with her uncle, aunt, and cousin. Waking up past 10, being a few minutes late, coming home past 11, and whatever else activity usually condemned as improper and lazy by the mainland were thoroughly common and readily forgiven.

But just when Homura thought she could learn to really enjoy this slow-pace lifestyle, the new semester began and Homura found herself apparently late on the first day - despite the fact homeroom officially began at 8:00 at normal mainland schools.

Homura felt the camisole underneath her thin and breezy schoolgirl sailor uniform moisten with sweat and stick to her body. Though she was small and lithe, and the hour still early in the day, the near-tropical Okinawa sun was not one to skimp on warming up the islands. Homura, unaccustomed to such steamy weather, found herself sweating more than what would be considered ladylike or civilized for presentation to a classroom on the first day of school. But Homura was a tough girl and she ignored this discomfort, brushing aside the dark strands of hair that were matted against her cheeks, she rushed on into the simple school structure.

It was only when she reached her classroom, 1-A on the first floor, did she stop. Taking a deep breath, she slide open the classroom doors, a quick apology for her tardiness on her lips.

But no one was inside.

Homura looked at her watch, 7:50 now. Class was beginning in ten minutes, how could no one be in the classroom yet?

_No way no one could be here unless everyone was late... Could people in Okinawa really be that slow? _

The answer dawned on her as quickly as she had posed the question; after all, why else would there have been no one in the courtyard. A sudden thought seized her and she quickly checked the date on her watch.

_No, today is definitely the right date... I guess I'll just wait then..._

Taking another deep breath, Homura slid close the classroom doors. She walked across the corridor and leaned her back against the window sill. The cool glass pane felt refreshing against her neck and shoulders. The scent of lilies from the flower bush directly on the other side of the wall wafted in sweetly through the window screen.

Homura, running her hands through her hair, adjusted her red ribbon and straighten her long dark willow soft locks. She then tugged on her shirt to loosen the camisole underneath and reorganized her skirt while hoping that somehow all this sweat would go away in the next five minutes. When she was satisfied that she no longer appeared like just survived a meat grinder, Homura rested her head back against the window and stared inattentively at the bulletin foam board - already filled with club advertisements and flyers - across from her. Her mind began to wonder.

_Okinawa, huh...? Uncle says this where Dad and Mom grew up... I wonder why they never told me... Maybe they didn't like this place._

Homura's parents, back before the earthquake over four years ago, never talked about Okinawa or ever having a family there. Mom and Dad always only took Homura to her grandparents on her mother's side. And when Homura asked to see her grandparents on her father's side, Dad had simply told her they had already passed away and that Homura, Mom, and her little brother were the only family he could ever want.

_I wonder if I would like this place... I don't know anyone other than Uncle, Auntie, and Kai here and I don't really have any friends... _

A ruefully bitter smile played across Homura's lips and she bit them to hide it - not that there was anyone to see never did have many friends; not now in Okinawa and certainly not back on the mainland. Kyouko and Mami were the closest she had to friends, but they were really more like rivals than anything else.

_But maybe my life will be different here..._

At that thought, a particular flyer on the bulletin board opposite her happened to sudden catch her wandering eyes. It was the gaudily colored printed piece of advertising for a Magical Adventure Club.

マギカル冒険部へようこそ！

素敵な奇跡を見つけよう！

And further down in the member list, her eyes froze upon two names.

美紀 彩香

金目 和

_Miki Sayaka, Kaname Madoka... _

Homura Akemi's eyes widened as her gaze fell upon those characters. For a brief moment, a flicker of emotions shot inexplicably through her body. Then, quick as it came, it vanished, leaving her rather confused. As far as she could recall, she knew no one by those names (to say nothing of the fact the characters could be read differently), yet a note of nostalgia reverberated throughout her entire being as she mouthed out the words. Something about those names gave her the feeling that she has known those people for a very long time.

_My past life, maybe?_

Unbidden, Homura pushed off against the window and walked across to the board. She reached up and gingerly tugged away the push-pins that held the flyer on the thick wood-foam board and extracted the club advertisement. As she folded and tucked away the sheet into her skirt pocket, the homeroom teacher of classroom 1-A appeared around the bend in the corridor and walked toward her.

"Good morning," the teacher, an energetic woman with her black hair pinned into a bun with bamboo stick that had large pudgy panda hanging off the end of it, smiled at Homura as she approached, "You're here awfully early... Ah," her eyes sparkled, "You must be my transfer student from the mainland!"

Homura nodded and introduced herself with stiff formality.

"My name is Mami Kawada, it's nice to meet you," Ms. Kawada extended her left hand in a rather Western handshake way.

Homura, awkward shaking the teacher's hand with a confused expression on her face, noticed the pretty gold-platinum wedding ring on her ring finger.

"Come on in," Mrs. Kawada gestured as she slid open the door and stepped in, "We usually start class with a thirty-minute leeway with a few of the tardy children coming in a few minutes after that, but if you are more than ten minutes late afterwards, you will have to stand in the hallway for another ten minutes," She explained as she showed Homura to her assigned seat, "This might be Okinawa, but we're still pretty strict when it comes to school."

Homura, not sure if Mrs. Kawada was being sarcastic, laughed politely.

But Mrs. Kawada simply blinked.

Just as Mrs. Kawada had said, class began punctually some forty minutes after when it was suppose to and the students, now all seated in their assigned seats, took turns standing up and introducing themselves in front of the whole class. It was something of a custom in a sophomore class on the first day.

Nearly everyone had came from the local junior high school with the exception of the boy named Tom who happened to sit right in front of Homura. He was an exchange student from the United States.

"Thank you very much, I hope you find Japan to be enjoyable," Mrs. Kawada said as Tom sat back down in his seat after his introduction.

Next, and last, was Homura. She calmly stood up and walked up to the front of the class. She wrote her name neatly on the blackboard behind her as Tom had done. She introduced herself to the class, bowed, then started to return to her seat.

Before she could move, however, Mrs. Kawada gestured for her stop, "Ms. Akemi is from the mainland and Mr. Lee," she gestured toward Tom, "is from America. It's their first time in Okinawa," she explained to the class, "Let's show them the friendly spirit of Okinawa and so everyone, please be nice to them." She said this to everyone with a voice filled with so much sincerity that Homura could not help but wonder if she was going to be bullied as soon as the teacher wasn't watching.

But judging by the friendly smiles that lit the faces of her classmates as Homura returned to her seat, she dismissed the thought.

"Now then," began, earnestly, "It's my turn. My name is Mami Kawada and I will be your homeroom teacher and your mathematics teacher. I have a masters degree in applied mathematics from Tohoku University and I've been working here for five years now. I look forward to working with you all." Her voice was filled with pride when she mentioned Tohoku, but her voice was filled with joy when she spoke of working here. Homura felt herself wondering just why someone with a masters degree from a rather prestigious institution would bother to teach in a high school on some remote island. Mrs. Kawada continued, "An interesting fact about me is... " her voice trailed off as she put her right hand on her hip and her left hand against her cheek in what can only be described as the most ridiculously exaggerated expression of girlish wonder, "Oh this," she looked at her ring finger as if surprised to find the piece of fancy jewelry resting there, "my boyfriend proposed to me recently and I'm engaged. See, the twin ivy bands of platinum and gold symbolize our..."

Eventually, Mrs. Kawada began math class. She went over a simple introduction of matrices and determinants. Second period World History with Mr. Tanaka followed math.

Homura paid only half her attention to the material and the other half she spent staring out the nearby window past the Makigawa River to the sparkling blue ocean beyond. The salty sea breeze, carried on wings of soft zephyrs and warmed by the Spring season sun occasionally billowed by and tossed at Homura's hair and fluttered her ribbon.

And her mind wondered to the two names on the advertisement flyer now folded away in her pocket.

_Miki Sayaka._

_Kaname Madoka._

Something about the characters seemed wrong, even though she had no idea why they would be. Yet at the same time the names meant something to her; they had a certain ring to them that for her penetrated to her core.

_Who are these girls? How do I know them?_

When the forty-five minute lunch break rolled around, she excused herself from the students who offered to eat lunch with her and left the classroom. Checking the flyer for directions, Homura started westward down the corridor toward the West Wing where the clubs were given reserved rooms.

It wasn't until she was standing right outside the closed door staring at the label that she realized she had no idea just what she was going to do or what she was going to say if and when she knocked the door and someone came out to answer.

_What can I say?_ _I like your name? _

Homura bit her lip in a rueful smile meant only for herself.

_What am I doing here? I should leave and buy lunch..._

Homura clutched at the piece of paper to her chest, she could not remember when she had ever felt so confused before. Here she was, standing outside a closed door gripping to death a flyer she illegally ripped from a bulletin board while people, mostly seniors and juniors passed by her with smirks of amusement on their faces.

She was fully aware of how much her light-blue bow-ribbon across her collar designated her as a lowly sophomore. She was only too conscious of how much she looked the part of a shy underclassman working up the courage to hand in a love confession letter to the upperclassman whom she must have held in unrequited admiration.

Suddenly red-faced, Homura was about to spin on her heels and return when the door unexpectedly opened and a girl with orange highlights in her hair poked her head out.

"Oh hi there," She said in surprise, nearly running into Homura, "Can I help you?"

Homura began, "I..." but faltered.

The girl stepped out into the hallway with Homura. Homura was not short for her age, but this girl was head taller. She wore the same simple pleated skirt and sailor uniform that all the girls wore at school, but something about her aura somehow made her seem like a radiant model one would find in a fashion magazine. Her tall lithe figure filled out her clothe just perfectly and her brown hair with its streaks of fiery orange framed her lightly tanned face like a halo and complemented the orange bow that signified her as an upperclassman. Homura could not help but feel like a dull sophomore rock next to shimmering senior ruby.

Just as Homura stared at the tall senior in admiration, the girl studied Homura in return. And suddenly, a beaming smile spread across her face when she saw the flyer in Homura's hands, "Hey! Are you here to join our club?"

"No..." Homura began, acting upon reflexive instinct, she hugged the flyer in her arms against her chest. Her voice trailed off as the possibility crossed into thoughts.

_Maybe I should join this club... maybe..._

"Oh..." the tall girl seemed a bit downcast, but quickly regained her enthusiasm, "You should consider joining up; we do all sorts of fun things. Come on in, I'll give you the tour." Then, in a totally un-Japanese display of initiative and daring, the girl grabbed Homura's wrist and tugged her into the room and shutting the door behind her.

"Umm..." Homura began as the tall girl sat her down at a plain wooden desk, then, out of nowhere, the question on her mind burst out through her tongue, "Are you Madoka Kaname?"

The tall girl stared at her, caught off-guard at the sudden remark, then she chuckled, "No, my name is Maaya Mizunashi. Madoka," She mused over the word, almost as if testing the syllables, "Madoka is my lowly underling." The tall girl, Maaya, replied with a straight face.

"Underling...?" Homura blinked, not sure if she heard Maaya correctly.

"I'm the Suzumiya Haruhi of this club," Maaya explained matter-of-factly as she brought out a tea set from a nearby cabinet, "And Madoka is the Mikuru."

Homura couldn't help herself but smile; she never told anyone, but she herself was quite an avid fan of that particular short-novel series.

A lull of silence settled over the room as Homura took a few glances around. An unused blackboard lay across the table from her, a bookshelf with scant few books, and simple wooden cabinet from which Maaya had withdrew the tea set were the only furnishings in the small room.

_If this is the SOS Brigade of Suzumiya Haruhi, this must be the first episode. Which makes me Itsuki, I guess._

"Well," Maaya said as she prepared the tea, "Kaname and Miki are buying lunch right now, they will be back any time now." Maaya placed a full cup in front of Homura, "小红跑," Maaya explained, seeing Homura blink at the unusual color - light brown instead of green, "it's a Chinese tea."

Homura, seeing Maaya's expectant look, picked up her cup and took a ginger sip. The warm water, tinged with a touch of bitterness and the scent of Jasmines in the Spring welled upon her tongue.

"The tea leaf comes from one of only a special trees in China; these trees all grew out of sapling cuts of one original tree," Maaya explained proudly, "My dad brought it from his trip through China. Do you like it?"

Homura thought the tea tasted exactly like the stuff given away from free at cheap Chinese restaurants (Jasmine in the Spring was a Chinese restaurant), but seeing Maaya's sincerely happy grin, she nodded and replied in the affirmative.

Maaya's smile grew wider, "Have some cookies too," She said as she pulled a plate of creamy Milano cookies from apparently out of nowhere. She placed the plate in front of Homura, poured herself a cup of tea, and sat down in a nearby chair.

Homura stared almost involuntarily at the cookies. The soft creamy crumbly dough shells and the ring of sweet dark chocolate between them beckoned at her tummy and teased at her mouth. She had forgotten how hungry one becomes after skipping breakfast and sitting through Mrs. Kawada's lecture about the linear algebra of fiancés (also math). It was lunch time and Homura felt the sugar sweet call of cookies irresistible.

Maaya with a cat-like smirk on her lips, snatched a piece up and bit into it, "Hmmm, these cookies have big marshmallow centers."

Homura, watching with a most unladylike hunger, followed suit. The dough and chocolate was still warm and melted in a mix of gooey sweetness in her mouth that perfectly complemented by the mild bitterness of the tea.

"Hehe," Maaya's Cheshire-cat grin suddenly turned evil, "Freshmen capture successful."

"Huh?" Homura blinked at Maaya, not comprehending. Perhaps a less hungry girl would have stopped eating, but Homura finished her cookie anyway.

"You now must join our club," Maaya explained cheerfully, seeing no effect on Homura's confusion, Maaya continued, "In Greek mythology, if a wandering traveler stumbles upon the Land of the Dead across the River Styx, he may visit the land and return to the land of the living if and only if he did not eat or drink of the stuff from the other side."

"I just..." Homura began but Maaya cut her off.

"You have just eaten the ambrosia and now you're trapped and will become my servant forever!" Maaya, covering her mouth in that sort of exaggerated evil ojou-sama way began to laugh like an anime stereotype.

At that moment, the door to the Magical Travel Club opened and two girls entered carrying a handful of individually wrapped bakery breads and sandwiches.

"Maaya, we've hit jackpot today! We got all our favorites, plus an extra one because... oh hi there," One of the girls, a junior with lightly-tinged pink hair tied into two short twin tails, greeted Homura with a familiar smile on her lips as she laid down the food onto the table.

"Madoka, Sayaka, we have a new member joining us," Maaya beamed at the two new girls, "her name is..." Maaya paused. The realization dawning on her that she did not know Homura's name.

"Homura Akemi," Homura filled in, "I'm a sophomore." She added, demurely but did not contradict Maaya's claim that she would be joining their club.

Maaya gave Homura a momentary cocked-eyebrow look; she was clearly expecting the girl to put up more of a fight before being coerced into joining. Who would have thought one could just trap and trick people into joining clubs?

"I hope you didn't coerce her into this with anything weird," Sayaka, an energetic short-haired junior, eyed Maaya suspiciously, "We'll get shut down by the student council if you keep scaring people."

"Nonsense," Maaya said a with a wave of her hand, "my club has enough funds to fly everyone on the council for a vacation to Tokyo; they won't shut us down. Besides," Maaya clapped her hands together excitedly, "Homura already agreed to join us."

"Really?" Madoka, her eyes glittering with excitement to match Maaya's, pulled up a chair and sat down right next to Homura.

_So she is Kaname Madoka... I don't think I know her... No, I guess not, I would definitely remember that pink hair. Maybe I'm thinking of someone else._

"Oh," Sayaka also pulled up a chair and sat down around the table, a wry smile on her lips, "welcome to the Maaya henchmen club, we serve Queen Maaya unquestioningly and she lashes us less when our behavior pleases her."

"Uh-huh," Maaya nodded, her eyes playful but her voice serious, "You two have done well today, you have brought me pleasing tribute," she said, holding up a pack of red-bean bread, "your lashings will be reduced from sixty to forty."

"What if we stage a revolt?" Sayaka asked, "Now that we have Homura, us peasants outnumber your Highness three to one."

Maaya, quick on her feet, jabbed back at Sayaka with something about bring out the guillotines while Sayaka returned with a clever play-on-words regarding Marie Antoinette.

"They can go at it for a while," Madoka, watching from the sidelines, whispered to Homura, "I can never keep up with those two."

"I probably couldn't either," Homura nodded in agreement, "Not unless I can stop time and think about it for a minute or two."

Madoka giggled, "Maybe if we were anime magical girls. Oh, I almost forget," Madoka reached over and grabbed the two remaining packages of bread and presented them to Homura. "Pick one." Noticing the look of surprise on Homura's face, she explained rather sheepishly, "This is Indian Curry flavored and this is Japanese Curry flavored... I'm kind of a fan of curry. It's okay if you don't like it."

"Oh no, I love curry," this was true, Mom used to always make curry and it was something of a comfort family food for Homura, "It's just..." she fudged, rather unsure regarding how to deal with all this sudden and rather bizarre friendliness. She had met these girls less than a few minutes ago, yet Madoka was treating her as if they had known each other for years.

_Maybe in my past life_.

"Thank you, I'll buy next time," Homura went with the Indian curry.

いただきます！

In all those years of school back on the main island, Homura could not recall a time she had this much fun forgetting to bring lunch.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: その、別世界に繋ぐ屋敷

The rest of the school day passed without incident and when sun burned to a soft mellow orange-red above western hills, the dismissal bell rang. The students stood, waved goodbyes, and went home.

"See you tomorrow," the boy in desk in front of Homura waved goodbye to Homura in English.

Homura return the pleasantry and headed out the classroom, down the stairs, through the courtyard, and out the school gates. It was long walk back to her uncle's house and she needed to be back early enough to help auntie with dinner.

A child of tragedy Homura lost her parents, her siblings, and her home in an earthquake over four years ago. Homura herself had been hit by a falling bookshelf and was severely injured and had lapsed into a deep coma from which all the experts and doctors thought she would never wake. Unsurprisingly, the doctors were wrong and, after a lengthy six-month struggle, Homura Akemi reopened her eyes.

Perhaps it was through the kind mercy or God, or perhaps His infinite cruelty, but the twelve year old Homura Akemi opened her eyes to an indifferent and lonely world. With everything of her former life shaken and washed away, Homura spent the next few years reassembling the pieces. But such things, difficult enough for competent and experienced adults, are near impossible for twelve year old girls on the cusp of puberty.

More than once, Homura had found herself wondering along the ledges of Tokyo Tower, thinking to herself just how easy it would be to kick off against the railing, ride the howling wind and fly far, far away from this gray and ashen land. But whenever she got close to working up the courage to take that leap, a soft and warm voice - probably her mother's - would always call her back.

This, coupled with several soft and warm grants from generous philanthropists helping the victims of the earthquake, kept her alive, in school, in a small but comfy apartment, and eventually in contact with her uncle and aunt in Okinawa.

And though Homura's father had voluntarily left his childhood home and vowed to never return, Uncle Akihiro Akemi nevertheless welcomed back his daughter with open arms.

"You've been through a lot, Homura," her uncle had said when he and his wife first arrived at her solitary apartment in the bustling metropolis near Tokyo, "but you're still young and you need a family to love and support you. You need to get away from this crowded hustle-bustle city where you could lose yourself in the sea of cars and people. I want to help you rediscover a place where you can belong."

"And don't worry about Kai - he is your cousin," Homura's aunt had added, "He's well behaved for his age."

Homura initially had her reservations about following two practical strangers aboard a plane to an unknown land; she was smart enough to know that was how little girls were kidnapped and sold abroad to no good end. Yet even if this man somehow managed to feign the look of sincerity and genuine concern and was, in fact, a criminal, Homura had nothing to lose by following him. This sad realization drove her accept his offer. That, and the Japanese legal system tended to do its best to keep little girls in loving homes and off the streets. In a flurry of papers and stamps, Homura was officially placed under the legal guardianship of her uncle. And in the blink of the eye, Homura was sitting in an airplane some thirty-thousand feet over the Pacific Ocean bound for her new sunny home.

And lucky for Homura, aside from Uncle Akemi's insistence on nattou being present during breakfast, life in Okinawa exceeded her wildest expectations. The island, with its clear skies, crystalline waters, and the carpet of greenery that hugged the buildings, was worlds different from the steel and stone monoliths that obstructed the sun in her mainland home.

Even now, as she descended the Koyo Hill that that the Koyo High School sat upon, the scent of the salt carried upon the back of the ever-present ocean breeze whispered softly and sweetly in her ears and tossed her black hair in front her. The spring sun hung low over the distant hill like a candle, embracing the sky in mellow alabaster. The long shadows of telephone poles and stretched out before her on the small street as the distant barking of dogs as their owners returned home echoed in the distance.

Turning the corner at the end of the slow descent, Homura reached the yard of the comfortable two-story villa that was her Uncle's home. A few decorative marble tiles on the residential wall that surrounded the front garden spelled out the surname.

暁美

Homura opened the low gate and stepped in. Almost as soon as she did, Manfred the dog, who slept lazily next to the decorative rock in the middle of the garden, piqued his head up. Seeing his new favorite toy return, the large black-and-white Newfoundland propped up on its legs and ran at her excitedly, his tongue out and his tail wagging.

Homura swallowed, always somewhat nervous around large unrestrained animals almost twice her weight. She backed up a step and considered momentarily stepping back out the gate, but as she had already shut it behind it, it was too late. For a wild moment, she thought Manfred was going to plow right into her and she prepared to leap out of the way.

But the docile dog slowed down as he approached and simply nuzzled against her hand with his nose. He looked at her with the sort of happy friendliness that only a dog could and nudged her leg expectantly.

"Hi Manfred," Homura began, a little unsure what to do in this situation. She was not so much afraid of dogs as she was afraid of anything getting so close to her. So she stood there unmoving like a boulder in a river, her hand half petting half dodging Manfred.

This interlude did not last long for momentarily, familiar footsteps sounded behind her. Homura turned her head to see Kai returning home.

"Sunshine!" Kai called out his nickname for Homura in his heavily accented English as he passed through the gate.

Homura felt her face burn at the nickname. When Kai had first referred to her that way, Homura had demanded from him why he was calling her something like that. Kai had shrugged and said to her what is quite possibly the most embarrassing few line she had never heard, "Because hidden deep in you is a ray of sunshine that makes the people around you smile. Also, nankurunaisa!"

Homura had not been pleased with that answer and, noticing this, Kai had smiled conciliatorily, "Okay, how about this, you get call me a nickname too. I suggest 'onii-chan'."

Homura felt awkward calling Kai something like that and, since she could not come up anything better, returned to calling Kai by name.

"Manfred really likes you." Kai commented as he bent down to pet the dog.

"Hi, Kai" Homura return her cousin's greeting quietly, exchanging a momentary glance with her cousin then looking away. Unconsciously, she swiped her hand - the same hand that Manfred's wet noise brushed against - against her skirt and fidgeted in her uniform. Still, from the corner of her eye she studied her cousin as he happily played with the large family dog.

Kai Akemi was two years Homura's senior and enrolled in the local technical high school. His hair, the same shade of deep black as Homura's hair, was cut short and combed neatly. And in his black blazer and black slacks had the aura of Jet Li moments before a fierce fight scene, but the insistent smile on his face and contagious cheeriness in his eyes reminded Homura of Jackie Chan. At least, that was what Homura had first thought when she met him a few weeks ago; now she thought herself odd for thinking her nerdy tech-savvy cousin reminded her of Chinese martial arts actors.

After scratching Manfred behind the ears - the dog wagged his tail in furious ticklish happiness - Kai stood up. "All right, let's go inside," he beckoned to Homura as he led the dog along into the house.

If the outside garden of Uncle's villa was elegant and beautiful for its overflowing gardens and bountiful trees, then the inside was elegant and beautiful for its simplicity. The entrance hall turned and quickly led into the living room. White marble veined with spots of sparkling quartz paved the entrance and living room. No couches or coffee tables sat in the living room as one would have expected in a western household. Instead, a thick aquamarine rug sat squarely in the center of the room on top of which rested a traditional low Japanese table surrounded by colorfully adorned pillows for kneeling. The television, powered by a plasma fountain generator, rested against the wall in front of the table.

Further in, the living room discreetly shifted to the dining room as a large, delicately shaped rose-quartz table rested near a rose-quartz counter. To one side of the room was the stairway to the bedrooms upstairs and the other a gateway into the kitchen.

"We're home," Homura and Kai announced as was standard in a Japanese household as they removed their shoes and stepped up.

Manfred, having been well trained, wiped his paws on the nearby doggy-mat before jumping up and joining his owners. He too announced his return with an enthusiastic bark.

"Welcome home," Auntie's voice called back from the kitchen where she was probably busy with cooking, "Dinner will be ready when Dad comes back."

Dinner, in keeping with the decor, was simple and elegant at the Akemi household. A bowl each of excellently prepared Hiyashi Chuuka topped with thin slices of raw tuna tasted truly restaurant quality. And to Homura, who had spent the last few years eating modest meals of rice and rice-seasoning, gorging on her aunt's cooking seemed almost criminally luxurious. After the meal, the conversation at the dinner table turned from Homura's first day at school to what Kai was planning to do for his first date with a girl from his class.

"So," Auntie Ayari, a tall lithe lady who managed to somehow look only half her age, spoke with a glitter in her eye, "where are you taking her?"

"Uh..." Kai fudged; he was on good and open terms with his parents - something rather unconventional in the typical Japanese family - but he still had little intention of sharing his love-life with his parents.

"C'mon, spill it," Auntie Ayari said in a coaxing voice as she rested her chin on her palm.

"Well, it's not really a date... we're just going to check out the haunted mansion," Kai explained, "we were both curious if the stories are true." Homura, who was not looking directly at Kai, noticed from the corner of her eye that his face was slightly red.

"Oh...? A haunted house?" She considered this for a moment, then confidently stated, "She must really like you," Auntie Ayari nodded with an impressed expression on her face, "You should bring a jacket with you so that you can give it to her when she gets cold."

"But it's thirty-degrees C," Kai replied, a little flustered; a little disturbed at how much his mom could be a girl. And how much his Dad could just sit and watch in amusement.

"Nonsense!" Auntie Ayari waved a hand dismissively. A few strands of her black hair rolled down from her neat bun. "Girls can pretend to be cold in the Sahara under forty-degree weather while a volcano erupts nearby. Girls your age love it when the boy she likes pays attention to them, right Sunshine?" Auntie Ayari nudged Homura.

Homura, interrupted from her person thoughts, nodded with a sigh.

The very same sigh escaped her during lunch the next day in the club room.

For whatever inexplicable reason, Homura felt she drawn to the Magical Adventure Club and rather at ease with the upperclassmen there. And just like yesterday, the four girls, Maaya, Sayaka, Madoka, and Homura, sat around the simple club table eating lunch. Today, however, everyone had brought packed lunches from home and, incidentally, everyone had apparently brought the same thing: rice, egg rolls, and tofu.

"What's wrong?" Madoka asked, noticing the downcast look on Homura's face.

"It's nothing," Homura replied; it wasn't too far from the truth. She picked up an egg roll and bit into it; it was too sweet. Auntie Ayari had taught her how to make them this morning, but she must have put in too much sugar.

"Your happiness escapes between the breaths of your sighs, as they say," Maaya commented lightly as she sipped tea and watched Homura pick at her food. She herself had finished her lunchbox in the time it took the other girls to open theirs and so had plenty of time to observe Homura and the other girls. "You shouldn't bottle things up, you know." she said, after a pause.

Madoka nodded in agreement.

"It's really nothing..." Homura insisted, then added, "It's just I put too much sugar into my egg rolls." it wasn't a lie.

Sayaka snorted in a laugh, while chewing her own egg roll, "Ah, that happens to me a lot too, I always try to make my cooking special and it usually ends up tasting weird." then, suddenly remembering her manners, quickly covered her mouth with a napkin before continuing, "Apparently, that is the supposed beginner's mistake in the culinary arts."

Maaya smirked at Sayaka, "Klutzy in the kitchen and a tsundere, any other anime stereotypes you're hiding from us?"

"I'm also perfectly average high school student but also secretly a magical girl and my parents are always overseas," Sayaka replied wryly.

Maaya laughed, "Sounds like a trashy show."

"You guys really watch a lot of anime..." Madoka commented more to herself than anyone else. As usual, she was a little lost in the conversation. Then, turning back to Homura, she smiled, "Do you watch a lot of anime?"

Homura shook her head. Back on the mainland, she had been too busy with school, work, rent, the utilities, and whatever else a lone orphan had to do to survive to sit down at some scheduled hour each day to watch television.

"So what do you do for fun?" Madoka asked the natural question.

Homura thought for a moment, then answered, "My uncle and aunt took me around the island a bit before school started," then, almost guiltily, she admitted, "I really enjoyed that."

"Oh," Madoka's face split into a beaming smile, "I love exploring! Well, we probably all do since this is the Magical Adventure Club." An idea apparently blinked into light in her head for she asked, "Is there anywhere you haven't been to yet but want to go?"

Homura considered, but ended up blurting out the thing that had been on the top of her mind, "I heard there was a haunted mansion here..."

Hearing the words haunted and mansion in the same sentence, Maaya's ears perked up and she quickly jumped in on the conversation, "You must mean the Grief-Seed Mansion up on the hill."

Homura turned to Maaya as did Madoka and Sayaka. "Grief-Seed?" Homura repeated, the words sent a sliver of chill down her spine.

Maaya nodded nonchalantly, a tassel of orange hair fluttered down and she casually brushed it behind her ear, "A few years ago, the mansion was original owned by Edward Grief and Raymond Seed – they're Americans," she explained, seeing the confused looks on the girls' faces, "but since they sold the place, no one has been able to stay there for more than a few weeks before moving out. As a result, it's been abandoned."

This apparently came as news to all the girls and Sayaka's eyebrows shot up high, "Are you making up another one of your stories?" She asked suspiciously.

Before Maaya could answer, Madoka jumped in, "How is it haunted?"

"I'm not too sure, actually, I've never seen anything," Maaya replied, "but I hear there are supposedly a lot of shadows and ghosts in there who only come out at night."

"Sounds pretty bland," Sayaka said with her arms folded across her chest, she was clearly unimpressed, "Like the haunted houses at a cultural festival."

"You're not afraid of spirits and ghosts?" Madoka asked nervously, her rosy cheeks and flowery smile seemed a bit more pale than usual.

"Psh, no," Sayaka replied with much bravado, her nose confidently in the air.

"Ooh?" Maaya raised an eyebrow curiously, the Cheshire cat grin on her face made her eyes glitter, "Then I guess you won't mind touring around the house after midnight."

"Well, yes I would mind, you're probably going to set something up to scare me now," Sayaka returned Maaya's grin with a crooked knowing smirk.

"But you said you aren't afraid of ghosts…" Madoka pointed out.

"Hey," Sayaka glowered at Madoka for giving her lip, "Mommy and Daddy are talking, go finish your vegetables."

"Eh?" Madoka cried in that sort of girlish disbelieving way that only a Japanese girl could.

Homura, catching herself giggling, cleared her throat.

Maaya, seemingly lost in thought while sipping her tea, suddenly slammed the cup loudly onto the table causing the tea water inside to swing dangerously close to the edge, "All right," she began, her voice firm, "I have decided, this Friday at midnight, we will meet at the Family Mart near the northern end of the Makigawa and then explore the Grief-Seed Mansion."

"What?" Sayaka exclaimed in disbelief, "Where is all this coming from…?"

But she was ignored as Maaya continued, "First one to chicken out and run home has to buy dinner the next night. Also, no buts," Maaya turned to Sayaka who still resisted, "President's orders."

Sayaka, turning to Madoka and then Homura for support, found only a rather excitedly nervous smile on one and a blankly stoic look on the other. Sayaka sighed, "Fine, I guess I can postpone my super romantic date with Edward," it was, of course, a lie; the only date Sayaka had that Friday night was with a movie rerun of a certain popular American film.

"Who is Edward?" Homura, who had said little throughout the conversation and had instead simply sat and sipped at her tea, finally asked quietly.

"The most dreamy, talented, and handsome –" Sayaka began to answer, but was cut off by Maaya.

"Vampire from Twilight. Sayaka is going through her pubescent rebellious phase – don't ask."

Homura collected her long black skirt about her and sat down on a nearby boulder. The polyester fabric did little to smooth out the roughness of the stone. Homura's thin gray shirt and dark blue track blazer did little to ward off the chilly sea mist that fluttered in the wind. But Homura was accustomed to even colder environments and so did little to care.

Pulling her sleeve back, Homura check her wristwatch – midnight. The stars were already glittering brightly in the deep black night sky and a small distant moon cast its silvery light straight down from its apex directly overhead. It shone in the darkness of the now empty street outside the now closed Family Mart like a beacon, as if it were a spotlight waiting for the main actor to enter onto the stage…

But the main character has yet to arrive.

"Where is that Maaya," Sayaka wondered aloud as she paced impatiently. A pause, then she stopped, and stared upward and northward in the direction of Maaya's home, "It's already midnight…"

Madoka, Sayaka, and Homura, as per command from Maaya, were all gathered outside the Family Mart near the Makigawa River. Dressed not in uniform but in their plain clothes, the girls waited patiently for Maaya, the group lead, to show up and begin the night adventure. But when Maaya failed to show up, Homura took the time to sit down on an ornamental boulder and observe the private clothes of her seniors.

In the hoary light, Sayaka seemed to glimmer like a sea fairy. Her short hair, with its light dye of azure, fluttered gently in the night breeze and reflected the occasional beam of moonlight. Her aquamarine cardigan fluttered about her white V-neck like watery angelic wings. And her bell-bottom dark blue jeans gave the impression that she was walking on water in the dim light.

"She didn't call and say this was cancelled, did she?" Madoka asked as she pulled her cell phone out of her skirt pocket to check for missed calls – there weren't any. She slipped her phone back into her pocket.

Homura's eyes shifted from Sayaka to Madoka. If Sayaka dressed to look enchanting, Madoka dressed to be cute. Fluttering frills decorated the sleeves of her pink one-piece dress. Playful red ribbons, matching the one in her hair, swirled around her waist and skirt hem. Her hair, tied into pouty pig-tails, gave Homura the impression that she was a magical girl out of some day-time anime made for little girls coming home from elementary school. Madoka completed the image with white puffy boots.

_Which look would suit me better? _

Homura smiled ruefully at the thought. It really did not matter. She could not afford to go shopping for new clothe, and it is not as if she had the stylish tastes to know what to buy even if she did. Besides, simple skirts, shirts, and whatnot worked just fine for all her intents and purposes.

_Still though…_

Staring at Madoka's skirt, Homura sudden saw a soft light blink on around her pocket followed by the sound of Doraemon's introduction song echoing into the darkness.

"Ah, that must be Maaya," Madoka said, quickly fishing out her phone and answering it, "Ah, hi Maaya."

ああ、すまん、すまん。あたし、両親に捕まれちゃったさ、もう家から脱出できないだ。

"Maaya says her parents caught her so she can't sneak out anymore," Madoka explained the situation to Homura and Sayaka as she listened to Maaya over the speaker.

"Oh really?" Sayaka said with her arms crossed, not believing, "Let me talk to her…"

"Sayaka wants to talk to you," Madoka handed the phone to Sayaka.

"I guess you owe us all dinner, eh, glorious leader?" Sayaka trolled into the phone, laughter in her voice, "Chickening out before you're even here and claiming you've been discovered by Mom and Dad?"

あ、もう、わかったよ！明日、みんなを吉野屋のどんぶりでおごるから。

Sayaka laughed, her tone wry, "Wow, beef bowl at Yoshino-ya, aren't you generous," she paused, and became more serious, "although, it's rare of you to accept defeat so early, I guess something really did happen."

後で説明するよ。

"Ask her when we should reschedule this," Madoka suggested.

Sayaka nodded and asked.

えっとね、あのね、あたしはもういい、一度行くごとがあるからさ。ですけど、あんたたちはまだよね。ならば、今夜で行きなさい。

"Huh? But we don't even…" Sayaka's incredulous reply broke off midway as she saw the confused looks on her friends' faces, she quickly explained what Maaya told her, "She says she doesn't want to go anymore because she has already been there once, but we should go anyway tonight." Sayaka then continued to protest to Maaya, "But we have never been there! What if we get lost?"

あら、あら、この天上天下無敵のさやかさまがびびってるかしら。よしよし、泣き叫びたいのならば、ほむらちゃんの肩はあいてるぞ。

"Hmph! I'm not scared," Sayaka shot back with bravado, "and Homura looks lot more ready to cry than I do! Here, I'm giving the phone back to Madoka," Sayaka handed the phone back.

Homura looked up at Sayaka questioningly.

"Maaya thinks I'll be too scared crying to go, but I said you'd probably be more scared than I am," Sayaka explained, then with a rather sheepish grin on her face, she scratched her head and apologized, "Hehe, I didn't mean anything mean by that, but it's okay if you're a tiny bit scared."

Homura did not reply.

"Understood," Madoka, who was conversing still with Maaya, announced to the crew, "All right, we're going then. To tell you the truth, I'm kind of looking forward to this; it'll be an adventure. Ooh, I'm kind of nervous." Madoka paused, apparently, Maaya had more to say.

じゃ、あたしは電話で案内するから、切らないでね。面白いものを見つけたら、報告してね。

"Maaya says she will walk us through over the phone," Madoka translated Maaya's instructions to the other girls, "and we should tell her if something interesting pops up." She turned back to the phone and asked excitedly, "Okay, which way?"

Following Maaya's instructions, the girls navigated a few narrow streets and climbed a hill. Soon, whatever remained of the city lights faded behind them as they stepped onto a dirt path flanked by wild grass and summer willows. The path curved and snaked along the hillside and soon, all sounds of the crashing ocean waves and occasional passing car faded into the distance. Around them, the gulping sound of frogs, the dripping of water, the chirps of the cricket mixed with the rest of the whispering melody of the wild spring time forest.

Guided by Maaya's voice and the slivers of silver moonlight that bathed the night, the girls rounded a corner and, suddenly before them, stood a tall and opposing wooden structure. The silver night of the moon seemed to avoid the dark and blackened wood of the three-story house. Its windows and doors, open and empty seemed to beckon menacingly at the wandering traveler, yet not even would willing filter into that haunted place.

Homura swallowed. She looked at Sayaka, who clutched at the hem of her cardigan.

Madoka's voice quivered a bit as she spoke, "Okay Maaya, we're here. We're at the Grief-Seed Mansion…"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 03: その、時と場所を越えた手紙

Although at first glance the casual observer certainly would not have thought so, but it turned out that Madoka was the bravest out of the three girls present. Holding her phone against her ear with one hand, Madoka edged up on tiptoes to the overgrown path that led up to the dark mansion. Her footfalls carefully silent and her movements sneaky as if she was afraid of disturbing whatever monster might be lurking in the foreboding darkness. A necessary precaution as she was brazenly breaking into said monster's mansion when she had no good reason for doing so.

Homura followed after closely after Madoka, her fingers holding lightly onto her dress. Madoka had suggested that they all hold hands so they would not be separated, but neither of the other girls seemed too keen on the idea. Homura was not comfortable with the idea of excessive physical contact and Madoka, noting this, had not pressed the suggestion. Sayaka tagged behind Homura, walking so close that Homura could feel her breath on her shoulders.

As they neared the mansion doorway, the sounds of the forest seemed to die down, leaving only the thump of their beating hearts and Madoka's phone audible in the night.

"I'm looking through the wiki on the mansion right now," Maaya's voice carried through to all of them in the still stale silence, "And apparently, Edward Grief and Raymond Seed were researchers from Princeton University and operated out from the military base outside of town. They were in Okinawa twenty years ago to supposedly work on some sort of top-secret teleportation project for military application."

"But why..." Madoka began, her voice sounding too loud and too shrill as they stepped over the gateway and into the pitch black mansion. Her voice dropped to a whisper, "but why Okinawa?"

"It doesn't say," Maaya replied, "but it does say they worked on it in the mansion and that, one day, there was an explosion there that was visible from town. But when the townspeople came to investigate, they found the mansion's windows all blown out and the wood blackened but the fire already put out. Edward Grief and Raymond Seed were nowhere to be found; some say they either died in the explosion or, much more likely, ran off to escape the consequences."

"What about the distance teleporting thing?" Sayaka asked in a whisper from behind Homura.

"It doesn't say anything about anything of that sort being found, but after a while, the majority of the furniture was donated to the local orphanage. A few years later, a wealthy business owner from the mainland… whoa, Mr. Toyoda, apparently," Maaya's voice sounded impressed, "you know, the sole heir to the Toyota car company, bought the place as a vacation home. But he only used it once before reselling it. The next owners stayed in the house for a week then put it back on the market again at a much lower price. The same pattern continued until eventually the place was just abandoned. Next the wiki talks about the design architecture," Maaya's voice paused slightly, presumably as she skim the webpage and scrolled down to topics more interesting to the adventuring group.

Creeping forward slowly and blindly in the darkness, the formerly standoffish Homura had thrown her arms around Madoka's waist and the courageous heroine Sayaka had throw hers around Homura's waist. A little scared, majorly nervous, and completely unsure, Madoka edged forward deeper into the darkness one foot at a time, though she had no idea just where she was going.

Homura hopped desperately that there were no holes or cave-ins in the wood immediately ahead of them. The last thing she wanted was to fall down into the basement of a haunted mansion.

"Anyone bring a flashlight?" Sayaka asked quietly.

No one did.

"We could use our phones," Homura suggested as she pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open. A dim sphere of white light shone from it. Sayaka followed suit.

The fuzzy backlight did little to penetrate the darkness, and seemed to only highlight the black immediately outside its glowing sphere.

"I hope there aren't any snakes in here," Sayaka said out of the blue.

Homura felt Madoka freeze up; she could sense the chill running down the girl's back. Homura figured Madoka was afraid of snakes; but then again, she was too.

"No worries about that, there aren't any snakes in this area of the world," Maaya's voice carried through Madoka's phone, sending waves of relief through those who heard it. There was a pause and the awful dead silence, broken only by the girls' breathing, hung in the air. Then Maaya spoke again, "centipedes maybe, but no snakes. I hope everyone has sneakers or boots and pants on." Her voice trolled with a sing-song quality that sounded horribly out of place in a haunted mansion with possible snakes and centipedes, then figuring that she probably should not push and prod three girls already near the edge of breaking, she quickly amended, "I'm just kidding, no centipedes either. Anyway, from the entrance, hug the wall to your right, it says here that there are stairs that lead upward to the second story. There's a third story on top of the that, so chances are it will only get darker before it gets brighter."

Sayaka wore pants but with sandals while Madoka and Homura had on shoes close-toe shoes but with skirts thus all three girls were ready to scream and run back out the way they came when Maaya made her centipede comment. It was only after much panicking, sweating, and yelling at and from Maaya did the girls finally calm down. Taking a few moments to swallow down the panic, the girls at last followed Maaya's instructions and continued onward.

"Ooh," Maaya said excitedly as Homura felt Madoka step onto the stairs. Maaya was clearly enjoying herself far more than the other three girls, "there is apparently a thread on 2chan about this. Let's see…" Her voice trailed off as she read.

With the first footstep onto the stairs the wood gave a shrill shriek that pierced the silence like a freight train through mist. Homura heard Madoka gasp in surprise and Sayaka give the shortest, tiniest scream right behind her. Homura swallowed nervously and as did Madoka. She tried the step again, it squeaked again, but this time the sound seemed duller and more tolerable. Madoka took another step and the two girl fright train rumbled upward with her.

"Eeh? Listen to this," Maaya said over the phone, "before it was known as the Grief-Seed Mansion, it was called the Caraway Mansion. It was built by the Americans after World War II more than a century ago and was used as a boarding school. After that, it was purchased by a slew of private owners and no one had reported anything strange or bizarre until Grief and Seed's disappearance. After the researchers Grief and Seed moved their operations into the mansion, people reported seeing shimmering lights in the hills. Grief and Seed were never seen around town and shunned all visitors. Except on the morning of their disappearance…" Maaya's voice trailed off, then explained, "Hold on, I'm refreshing the page to see if this guy wrote anymore. Do you guys see anything yet?"

"No," Madoka replied, stopping. The other two girls also stopped behind her. "I think there is door here…" Madoka said as her hands felt around the wooden wall in front of her. Though she could not see, the surface was smooth to the touch except for one purposefully carved edge – presumably an ornamental covering on the door. She trace the edge with her fingers, but could not decipher the strange shape. Next, she knocked lightly against the door and the hollow echo reverberated throughout the darkness. Her searching hands next fell upon a smooth and round bump that was cold and metallic to the touch – probably the door knob. She gave it light twist, testing the lock, "It's unlocked…"

"One second," Maaya's voice came again, "the guy wrote more." She continued reading aloud, "On the morning of their disappearance, Raymond Seed and Edward Grief came into town and ate at a sushi bar for lunch. They were apparently overhead talking in excited voices about their project finally starting to work and how soon, travel would be revolutionized and people would be able to visit other planets." Maaya paused, "I wonder what that means. Anyway, after lunch, the two went back to the mansion. Later that night, a bright blue light flared in the hills where their mansion was and the town police immediately were dispatched to investigate. Aside from the blackened mansion and blown-out windows, there were no signs of fire as all the furniture remained undamaged. A search was conducted to find Grief and Seed but no one ever turned up anything. The case was officially closed ten years later. But some say…"

Sayaka interrupted, her voice quaking, "Okay, this is really giving me the creeps, can we please go back now?" Her arms tightened against Homura's waist, almost squeezing the breath out of the lithe sophomore.

Maaya might have said something in response, but Homura did not hear it. For at that moment, Madoka twisted the door knob and pushed. Although she did all this gently and slowly and only meant to open it a little to peek inside, the door still managed to fly open. With it, a flood of blue light poured forth out of the doorway and into the stairs.

So intense and bright was the light against the darkness that it was as if the girls recoiled as if they had been hit by gale-force winds. Sayaka ducked behind Homura and Homura buried her face against Madoka. Madoka's arms shot up reflexively to ward off the light, a surprised scream on her lips.

But before long, the blue light faded into the background. The soft gentle sounds of the spring time forest – the burping frogs, chirping crickets, and singing birds – echoed about them and a gentle, warm breeze, carrying the scent of trees and flowers brushed gently against their faces.

Slowly, the electricity that had flittered up and down their tense bodies died away and the girls broke away from their frozen stance.

Pulling away from Madoka, Homura opened to her eyes.

A long quaint old hallway that might once have been fancy stood before her. But now, the ceiling and portions of the walls were missing entirely missing further down the corridor. Moonlight poured in from the starry sky above them like a torrent of platinum from the glittering heavens. Rooms on either side of the corridor, separated only by incomplete walls and framed doors, were filled with flower petals and tree leafs that landed there throughout the ages. The wood around them, though once lacquered and new, was now worn and weathered by the passing of the seasons. And before them, on the opposite side of the corridor, was complete openness – the wall there having long since vanished to collapse. Nature freely blew in her elements through the wings of the wind that came and went from the valley beyond.

A swirling night breeze whispered past them from the open corridor and carried with it a fluttered of Sakura petals. In the soft silver light, they glimmered and glittered in soft mellow purple, seemingly taking on a life of their own as they danced in the night.

"Aah," Madoka drew a deep breath, overflowing admiration and amazement in her voice, "it's so beautiful…" She said this as she stepped into the corridor.

Homura nodded following, caught in the moment words unusual for her coming to her mouth, "It is, it's so peaceful here."

Sayaka, taking a finally look down the still dark stairs, followed her friends up, "I never would've imagined finding something like this here… It didn't look this way from the outside." Then, with a sheepish laugh, Sayaka added, "I can't believe I was actually scared enough to scream."

Madoka, continuing down the corridor, turned back to Sayaka with a smile, "Me too… but to think something so scary from the outside could truly be so simply wonderful inside. I guess it's the faeries of adventure showering us with their magic…"

Sayaka smiled too, not one of her sardonic smiles, but a rather infectious and genuine one that even spread to Homura. Her voice, however, was a little wry, "Anyone ever tell you embarrassing remarks are forbidden?"

Homura looked down, hiding her smile. With the fear and nervousness melted away by the silver moonlight, curiosity beckoned at Homura, inviting her forward.

"Whoa there, slow down junior," Sayaka called, "wait for us."

Homura turned her head and pointed, "Let's go see what's at the end of the corridor."

Madoka and Sayaka nodded in agreement and followed Homura. Lost in the sudden wonder, no one noticed that Madoka's phone was now displaying her wallpaper – a panda playing with a ball – and that the call to Maaya had been dropped. In fact, if any of these girls pulled out their cell phones at that moment – which they did not, they probably would have noticed the zero connectivity bars on all of them despite full bars mere moments ago downstairs.

The edge of the hallway opened up to a vast valley below. In the moonlight, the usual lush green trees faded away into the black background but the Sakura trees, prime in the blossoming season, glowed an enchanting mellow violet. They stood in the sea of trees like dazzling galaxies, mirroring the sky above. A streak of the swimming violet, beginning in the valley underneath the mansion and extending in a line toward the distant ocean. The water was visible in the far distance only by the flickering silver of moonlight upon water.

The beauty of the scene was beyond enchanting, it was otherworldly.

"It's like we've stepped into a parallel world," Madoka intoned that thought in a whisper that seemed to carry on in the wind.

The three girls sat down on the floor and dangled their feet over the ledge. A few large fallen branches and thick slabs of wood served as something a rough staircase down into the dirt floor toward the first-story valley. The girls stared out across the shimmering sea of trees, sea, and sky. That, in the swirl of the passing breeze, fluttered upward the glimmering leaves and flower petals of the Sakura trees to glimmer like stars in the forest. And the stars but petals in the sky.

"This valley must have been the mansion's flower garden back when it was a school," Sayaka said absently, her mind drawing its own conclusions, "it must have been truly romantic to sit here with that special someone and look out at the sea and valley."

Madoka nodded, "I feel so lucky to be able to see this." She paused, a thought entering her head, "Maybe that's why Maaya wanted us to come so badly tonight. She knew the season for Cherry Blossoms was short and she wanted us to catch this sight."

For a more moments, the girls sat in silence, content to relax and enjoy the scenery.

Then, a wind-chime sounded.

The willow-soft clear ping ringed in Homura's ears and her head immediately turned toward it, "Did you hear that?" She asked.

"Hear what?" Madoka asked, uncertain.

Then Homura saw it, a glassy glint half-way down the valley on a large cherry blossom tree sitting handsomely by itself on a rising ridge. The wind-chime hung from a thin red ribbon completely out of place in the middle of an abandoned valley.

_What is it doing there? Who put it there?_

"There's a wind chime over there," Homura answered, pointing in the direction of the wind chime. Then, without another word, Homura propped herself down the ledge onto the wooden block below. Catching herself with the balance of a cat, she stepped gracefully onto a fallen branch then quickly and agilely bounded down to the dirt floor.

"Wait, Homura!" Madoka protested, alarmed at Homura's sudden behavior.

"What wind chime?" Sayaka asked, looking around confused, "I didn't hear anything…"

Ignoring their hesitation, Homura called back to her friends, "I'm going to take a look over there." And began walking toward the lone cherry blossom tree that sat on the hill bluff.

"Wait for us," Madoka called back as she and Sayaka, after exchanging hesitant glances, leapt off the ledge and followed Homura.

"What's gotten into you?" Sayaka asked when they caught up with Homura standing near the hill bluff, "Running off like that…" Sayaka paused, looking at Homura with concern, "Homura?"

Homura did not respond. She almost did not hear Sayaka. Her eyes stared mesmerized at the crystalline glass wind-chime. The thin crystalline glass, shaped like an egg and decorated with rivets of glittering gold, seemed to pulsate and glow with an unearthly blue light. Hanging down from the hollowed center was a tiny delicate glass figurine that, upon touching the surface of the chime, must have made the crystal clear ringing Homura had heard.

"Hmm?" Madoka, spotting something on the main trunk of the tree, walked a little closer to investigate. Carved lightly into a small smooth section of the wood were the words:

キュウベイの風鈴を鳴らし、風に乗った響きを聞き、奇跡でできた手紙を届き

Madoka read the words aloud, "Ring the soul gem of Kyubei, hear the echoes ridding upon the wind, deliver the letter made of miracles."

"Huh?" Sayaka looked at Madoka in confusion, "What does that mean?"

Madoka shrugged, "I don't know… but let's find out," She smiled at Sayaka then at Homura with excitement and curiosity glittering prettily in her eyes, "Homura," Madoka's voice broke through the spell and Homura snapped back to herself, she looked at Madoka expectantly. Madoka gestured gently at the wind chime, "would you please…"

"All right," Homura reached up and gently tapped the glass figurine.

The crystal-clear chime reverberated from the bell and echoed against the valley walls. As if summoned by the ringing chime, a gust of wind rippled through the still night air, kicking up leaves, dust, and petals.

The girls closed their eyes and turned away from the wind.

But amid the howling wind, the softest whisper of a voice sounded in Homura's ear. It was a simple girl's voice, yet it carried within its tones the warmth, love, and nostalgia of eons, "Promise you will deliver my letter…"

Homura nodded her head. Although not sure if the voice had even been real or simply her imagination, she whispered back rather hoarsely to the wind, "I promise."

Slowly, the wind died down and the stillness of the deepening spring night returned. When the girls reopened their eyes, a white envelop twirled and spun gently downward in the air above them.

Homura reached up and caught it as it fell.

"Deliver the letter made of miracles…" She repeated Madoka's words softly to herself.

The envelop, white and pristine in Homura's hand, was sealed on the back with the insignia of a fancy magic circle. There was neither destination address nor return address anywhere on the envelop, but written in clear flowing English script were the words:

To: my bright future

"What does that mean?" Madoka asked, looking over Homura's shoulders.

Homura shook her head, "I don't know…"

The two girls exchanged glances, then both returned their gazes to the letter. For long moments, they stood there, on the bluff overlooking the valley of cherry blossoms next to the lone sakura with the wind chime bathed in moonlight. The gentle breeze brought with it the same sound of chirping crickets and burping frogs that had filled the forests around them. The shimmering stars twinkled in the same faraway world above them. Time slipped by them.

Finally, it was Sayaka who broke the spell and shattered the calm silence, "Well, we can inspect the letter some more tomorrow with Maaya, but we should head back soon, if my parents find out I sneaked out tonight, they hang me on the tree in the front yard as a warning to my younger siblings. "

Madoka and Homura nodded in agreement. The party turned back and retraced their steps exactly back up the mansion, down the stairs, and out again. Somehow, all of them knew going around just would not be right.

"So," Maaya began, "Did any of you guys get in trouble?"

It was the next day and all four girls were seated at a table in the local Yoshino-ya. As in accord with Maaya's rules, Maaya had to buy dinner for everyone.

"Almost," Sayaka responded first, "my mom was wondering why I was taking a bath at 2 am; but I lied and said I couldn't sleep."

"I think my brother found out," Madoka went next, "but I managed to bribe him off so he wouldn't tell on me."

"What about you, Homura," Maaya prompted; the girls all focused on her.

Homura shook her head, "Auntie and Uncle slept like logs; plus I think Kai came home later than I did."

"Who is Kai?" Sayaka asked, blinking, then hazarding a guess, "Your cousin?"

Homura nodded.

"Well, I got into a lot more trouble than you guys, you know," Maaya said with a sigh, "you guys really scared me when the call dropped and I couldn't reach any of you. I was ready to contact the police."

"Did you?" Sayaka asked, a little disconcerted over the idea that police officers might show up at her own and bring down the wrath of her parents on her.

"No, I couldn't come up with a good way of explaining what happened without me ending up going to jail," Maaya replied, shaking her head, "So I just slept on it. Although," she smiled genuinely, "I am glad you girls are all right."

"Hey, you can count on us to keep you and your illicit harem of high school girls from being noticed by law enforcement," Sayaka replied playfully.

Uncharacteristically, Maaya only nodded, the sincere smile of relief and care still plainly visible on her face. A moment of silence followed, then Maaya changed the subject, "So, what happened to you guys? Did you guys end up going upstairs?"

This time, it was Madoka who spoke, "Yep, it was beautiful upstairs; the moonlight that flooded through the open ceiling and cherry blossoms and the view of the valley and ocean just beyond. I'm glad you told us to go, I would hate to have missed such a scene. Plus," she added brightly, "Homura found a mysterious letter that we're suppose to deliver."

Sensing her cue, Homura produced the letter from her purse and laid it flatly on the table in front of Maaya.

But Maaya only stared at her and Madoka with a completely bewildered expression, "You saw what now?"

"Moonlight, cherry blossoms in a valley, and…" Madoka's excited explanation was cut off.

"The Grief-Seed Mansion is surrounded by dense forests," Maaya interjected, "And there aren't any cherry blossoms in Okinawa, at least not this time of year. Plus the house has a third story so I don't even know how moonlight could have gotten through the second floor ceiling."

Madoka stared at Maaya as did Sayaka and Homura.

"Trust me, I've been there and I took pictures when I went," Maaya's eye caught the letter on the table, "And what's this? I hope you girls are just joking with me and didn't actually take something from the haunted mansion."

"Eeeeh…" The three girls looked at each other, unsure and a little scared. Maybe it had not been such a good idea to ring the bell.

"Let's see this…" Maaya picked up the envelop, and read the flowing script on the front, "To my bright future." She then flipped the letter around, checking to see if the others had opened it already. They had not. Instead, Maaya's eye was caught on the seal that held shut the envelop lip. She squinted her eyes and looked closer at the magic circle seal, "Hey, there are words printed along the side, let's see…" Maaya voice suddenly stopped. She immediately looked up at the three girls sitting across from her, her expression dead serious, "Tell me the truth, where did you get this letter? This is some sort of inside joke you're playing on me, right?"

Even Sayaka was a little perturbed by Maaya's sudden serious expression. All three girls exchanged worried glances; they couldn't help but feel like school girls being scolded by Mommy for breaking the kettle.

"Homura rang the wind chime and it just sort of flew down at us," Madoka explained, "I'm telling the truth, we aren't playing any sort of joke."

Maaaya nodded. She flipped the envelop down in front of the Madoka and the other two girls, "Read the words on the seal."

In the well lit Yoshino-ya restaurant, Homura's sharp eyes immediately caught the words printed in neat script along the magic circle ring.

犠牲の鹿目まどか

Homura softly read the words, "Kaname Madoka the sacrifice…" the characters used for the last name was different, but there could be no mistaking the pronunciation.

All eyes turned to Madoka, who sat irresolute. Color seemed to have drained from her face and when she spoke, her voice quivered, "I'm… a little scared. What does this mean?"


End file.
